Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to cigarette lighters, and more particularly to a cigarette lighter having a flat ultra-thin format which lends itself to insertion between the inner and outer wrappers of a standard cigarette pack so that the smoker is never at a loss for a light, the flat lighter also functioning as a stiffener for the pack to prevent crushing thereof.
In the past, safety matches were usually used to light cigarettes, such matches being available in match books or match boxes. In recent years matches have largely been supplanted by cigarette lighters capable of supplying hundreds of lights before being exhausted, thereby doing away with the problems involved in striking matches and of disposing of burnt out matches.
The modern cigarette lighter no longer uses gasoline which requires a wick, for the fuel is now a liquified hydrocarbon mixture under pressure in a reservoir. The fuel vapor is emitted through a valve-controlled nozzle, the vapor being ignited by sparks generated by a flint abraded by a thumb wheel. Various arrangements have been heretofore developed to permit the user of the lighter to open the gas valve as the thumb wheel is turned so as to coordinate the action of the wheel and valve.
In the typical low-cost disposable lighter which must be discarded after the fuel is spent, the valve-actuating lever is provided with a thumb key that is placed directly adjacent the thumb wheel. In this way the operator is able with his thumb to concurrently turn the wheel and depress the key to cause the valve to open to discharge vapor which is ignited by sparks generated by the abraded flint.
In more expensive lighters which can be refueled, the operating components usually lie under a hinged protective cowl so that the smoker must first swing open the cowl before operating the thumb wheel and the valve key. Such lighters possess the advantage of being protected against dirt and other contaminants which might otherwise fall into the lighter mechanism when it is stored in a pocket or purse.
Existing cigarette lighters whether of the protectively covered or exposed type are invariably relatively thick three-dimensional structures regardless of their overall shape. Thus should the lighter have a box-like shape or take the form of a rod or cylinder, the thickness of the lighter, even in so-called slim models, is at least 3/8th of an inch and more commonly one-half inch thick.
The standard cigarette pack houses a cluster of twenty cigarettes within a paper-foil inner wrapper enveloped by a cellophane or transparent plastic-film outer wrapper. To obtain access to the contents, the smoker first uncoils a tear-off ribbon that severs the head of the outer wrapper to expose the inner wrapper which is then torn open at one side to form a port from which cigarettes can be removed.
The shape of a conventional cigarette lighter, regardless of its format is such that the lighter must be kept separate from the pack. Thus while the usual breast pocket in a man's shirt is large enough to accommodate a cigarette pack, there is not sufficient room to also receive the ordinary cigarette lighter. Hence, the lighter when used by a man is usually stored in his jacket or trouser pocket. Women tend to keep their cigarette packs and lighters loosely in handbags.
The standard cigarette pack made of foil paper and plastic film wrappers is soft and compressible, and is therefore easily crushed when subjected to pressure. This may deform or mutilate the contents. Because such crushing is a fairly common experience, some smokers acquire rigid cases to store their soft packs. But crushing is by no means the only problem, for what often happens is that the smoker after using his lighter will forget to return it to his pocket or wherever he normally stores the lighter. He may lay it on a table or some other place and then when he later wishes to light up, the smoker may not be able to find his lighter.
One prior approach to this problem is that disclosed in the Sanchez U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,716 in which a watch-shaped lighter is strapped onto the wrist. Apart from the practical difficulty of using the lighter at a wrist position is the fact that it pre-empts space normally occupied by a wrist-watch.
The Leibow U.S. Pat. No. 2,782,910 suggests another solution. This patent discloses a special mounting to support both a cigarette pack and a lighter, and serving as a rigid support for the pack. The hinged cover of the mounting houses a cigarette lighter mechanism. This special mounting is relatively elaborate and costly.